Housekeeping life hacks that changed your life

[Newmumburnout]

A bit dramatic of a title 😂. Wanted to start a new thread for great ideas we can share where something easy and small has made your life so much easier ! having a 1 year old and 3 pets and it's a chore to keep on top of everything. Even if it's not housekeeping please share !
Mine are:
Getting as much as possible delivered on a schedule. One being hand wash. I use the brand raindrop they supply a lovely bottle and send tablets to refill so you don't have to keep buying plastic hand wash bottles and they are always full.
Making chicken and rice bowls in one pot. When I cook dinner I will make a few lunch pots, you add rice, chicken, stick , veg etc with whatever spices and cook for 30 mins in one glass tupperware pot. That's it, eat from the.same container after warming up !

Anyone else ??

I go one further and put the entire roll of bags in the bin with a fresh liner on top. Remove the bin bag, replace the liner from inside. No more rooting around for moved bin bags.

I buy loads of celery/carrot and onions when I see them reduced and finely dice it and freeze it into ice cube trays with olive oil to make bases for chilli/bolognese etc. super quick and easy.

I have found that buying as much as I can in bulk has been revolutionary. I auto subscribe to toilet roll, laundry stuff, washing up liquid, tooth paste my DHs ecig liquid, whatever I can. Less trips to the shop and having a 4-6 month supply makes me feel secure in case i can't get out or have money issues.

My DS does this with his flip flopsSliders😁

I have an upstairs hoover and a downstairs hoover so it's less hassle to just whizz it round

Called Sunday Lunch for a reason I guess.

Soda crystals, one scoop per laundry load. I do this instead of fabric softener.

Towels get 30 mins in tumbler then on the line to dry. They stay fluffy.

A Fastpress for majority of my ironing.

A dehumidifier running outside my non-sleeping child's room every night (it reduces damp and also works as a surprisingly effective white nose machine 😅).

I buy bulk. Anything like cleaning stuff, 10kg baking soda, 5 litres of white vinegar/disinfectant/carpet shampoo/body soap/hand wash/shampoo. Then I refill stuff weekly. It's just always there and I can splash it about at will.

A huge amount of cleaning rags which I hot wash weekly.

Little and regular amounts of laundry so it doesn't get overwhelming.

I put a bottom layer of bicarb in the cats litter tray to combat any smells. I also pick the poos out daily, as soon as I notice them, several times a day if I'm at home. It makes the litter last longer (mine won't use it if it has residual turds).

I batch cook something cheap, spicy and full of lentils so I can just reheat and eat in the week. Sadly only I like it.

I have to get up really fucking early, but I use that time to rush about like a dickhead sorting the house out and getting everyone sorted and delivered, and then I'm free.to take the rest of the day of work at a more average pace. It makes me feel less resentful of the early start if I've forced myself to be productive. Often I don't manage this level of optimism though 😅

I always, always try to leave the kitchen clean and ready. Dishwasher on at bedtime, sides tidy and wiped. I realised it gets me down if it's not like that when I wake up. Boring but true.

All mattresses have washable protectors on (100% cotton ones). Keeps them fresher.

The kids have their jobs (putting the cats to bed, sorting laundry, picking up pots, emptying dishwasger a d putting away etc.)

Wooden blanket box at the foot of each bed.

In there lives sheets ,duvet covers,pillowcases.

So one room has a double bed
Spare room is a single bed.

Means no searching shelves for correct size sheets or covers.

And also very handy to have the clean linen right there when changing the bed .

Coverless duvets. Fits in washing machine and dryer. Off and back on the bed in half a day. No bloody fiddly covers and you only need one per bed! Really cosy too. It's been a massive game changer.

I made a list of everything that needs cleaning, by room, and wrote it down in a spreadsheet which covers four weeks (don't panic, most things get cleaned a good deal more than once every four weeks, they're just on the spreadsheet more than once!)

Now I print the spreadsheet and have a list for each week of cleaning jobs, which I cross off as they're done. The beauty of this for me is that lots of them are quick jobs and I can just get them out of the way when I have five minutes - I just look at my sheet and see what needs doing, do it, and cross it off. Massive reduction in mental load.

Like others, double lining the bin! I put a few drops of essential oil between the first and second liner too. Wash duvet covers inside out, buttoned, then they're ready to flip over the duvet and extra laundry doesn't get stuck inside them. Clean the shower walls when you're in the shower.

Love these threads. A recent one for me is making a rule that kids (5 and 8) don’t get tv after school until they have emptied their lunchboxes annd schoolbags out. There’s a few other jobs they previously had to do and still do too, like shoes and coat away, etc, but that one has added into their routine so easily, makes me wonder what else they can do!!

We usually do this too, after years of Sunday roast being 3-4pm and everyone moaning they're starving before, or snacking then not eating dinner! I love how it makes the day longer, and the kitchen looks tidy by Sunday evening.

Arrghh - it's the whole lunch/dinner/tea thing isn't it? I've alienated half of the UK who are saying "we already have dinner at lunchtime." 🤣🤪

Cordless vacuums, one upstairs and one down. Plus we have a Eufy in the living room. I hate hoovering and it just about makes it bearable.

Beetroot jars are particularly difficult I find. I keep a spare lid in my kitchen drawer then if I get one that won’t open, I stab it with a pointed knife to pierce it. Then it opens easily. I throw that lid and use my spare.

Treat it as exercise.

On sunny days put bedding out the window.

Five minute jobs every day or so - wiping down sinks, hoovering hall edges, Swiffer entrance.

For me, dinner is the meal, not the time!

Who is Nancy Birtwhistle please? Sounds intriguing!

I have lots of non carpeted bits and have become quite obsessed with brooms. Also have horses and it took me oh only about 40 years to realise that the sweeping tools I use at the yard (effective, daily war against hay, straw, horse detritus) could work just as well in real life.

So I have a really wide yard broom for outside - sweeps the whole thing fast.

A twig broom for leaves and stupid little dirt/dust, like pollen - this has been life changing in house/garden. I've been using one for decades at the yard and never thought "this would work in a non stable environment". Once you get the hang of it, it beats all other brooms dead. Looks like a witches broom which is a bonus.

And a long handled dustpan and brush. That clips neatly together. Decades, decades I've been bloody poo picking until I wondered if there was a household version. Of course there is.

Excellent for quickly sweeping up crumbs/dog hair/smashed things.

I get really excited about my brooms.

1. ready chopped onions. Cheaper and better tasting to cook with
2. robovac
3. Freezer full of yellow stickers.

Oh and not sure if I got this from here or TikTok but life changing.

Autumn= bloody leaves everywhere and hedge trimmings. Too much even for my brooms.

Solution - mow over them. Gone. Gone into the mower bag. Empty bag, mow over the pile Alf leaves. Repeat. Saves me so much time and swearing.

Nancy Birtwhistle's books/insta, eco, sensible, cheap.

Play 'Just ten things' when you walk into a room.

So, for example, you walk into your bathroom. Just do ten things in there and then walk out, leaving it much better than when you walked in. Count from 1-10 as you do each thing. Those things could be..

Straighten towel
Wipe sink
Wipe toilet
Bleach toilet
Put bath mat over bath
Pop toothbrushes in holder
Put down toilet seat
Open window
Tidy toiletries
Empty bin

Living room? For me, that could be ..

Plump cushions
Remove any glasses/plates
Dust surfaces lightly
Fold throws neatly
Light a candle
Water plants
Pick up anything on floor
Quick Hoover
Pop remotes in their correct place
Wipe over light switches

I can do each room in about 5 mins or less. Opening blinds or curtains? Thats 1 thing. Plumping a cushion? That's 2. Quickly adds up

Apply the game to all of your rooms and before you know it, you're keeping on top of the tidiness of your home. You'll note it isn't 'cleaning' as such - it's just keeping your house nice once it's cleaned and it's the reason I have quite a clean and tidy house.

Give it a go!

I never grease and line baking tins any more. Just cut baking parchment to size, dampen and scrunch then open out, line the tin and trim. I think it was a Mary Berry tip.

I tried this at the weekend after trimming the hedge. It worked like a hoover for all the stray leaves (very quick and less strenuous than frantic sweeping).